Automatic flushing device.



B. PURNELLf AUTOMATIC FLUSHING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC,.24. I917.

Patented July 30, 1918.

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B. PURNELL.

AUTOMAHC F'Lusume DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 24. 19H.

1,274,195. Patented July 30,1918.

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l ATTORNEY B. PURNELL.

AUTOMATIC FLUSHING DEVICE.

1 TIM FILED 050.24.1917.

. A L I 1 ,274, 1 95. Patented July 30, 1918.

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INVENTOR WITNESSES: 9M w Ewan/mm Pu/rneZZ ATTORNEY NI STATES PATENT nnmamm Nauru, r rrrronmma amcmeaa I 7 Toallwhomitmayooncem;

Be it'known that IfBENJA-MIN PURNELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Benton Harbor, in the county of Berrien and State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Automatic Flushing Device; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

My inventionv is particularly ada ted to automatically control the water for ushing water closets. The objects of my invention are: first, to provide a flushing devicewhich may be operated noiselessly; second, to eliminate'from the device all water tanks or1reservoirs so objectionable on moving, trains, boats, and crowded places; third, to obtain frost proof construction of a flushingv device, suited to the requirements of outdoor closets; fourth, to secure immunity for the device from corrosion or clogging due to any foreign matter in the supply water; fifth, to provide such construction that the amount of water passed at an operation may be readily adjusted; sixth, to afford facilities for ready accessibility of-all parts; seventh, to design a flushing device with the economy of manufacture in view, and, eighth, to render the device entirely automatic. V

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which a 7 a Figure 1 is a vertical section of the device; Figs. 2 and 3, horizontal sections on the lines A-A and BB respectively of'the casting 1; and Figs. 4 and5, side and top views respectively of the device. 1

Similar numerals refer to'similar parts throughout the several views. a The casting or body 1 is boredto receive the barrel 2 which may move axially therein and is also tapped to receive the stufling gland 4, throu h which valve stem 5 0 erates. The sai valve stem is screwed into the head6 and locked b pin 7, which head is in turn screwed. into the lower end-of barrel 2 and hermetically sealed, "The said barrel 2; is tapped'at its upper end to receive the internal nut 8, and. said barrel'is partly filled with oiland contains the piston 9, which piston is in turn fitted to receive the valve disk 24 having a groove 27 and the flat s ded gnide '25 and thi g de l ly-held AU'roirA'rIc rnusnme DEVICE.

- Specification of Letters Patent,

gages the lever 17 and said lever on said bowl, r a 3 A cycle of operation of the device may be from the horizontal.

, Patented July 30, 1918. Application filed December 24; 1917'. Serial No; 208,642. I i i in said piston; by the washer 11 and the pin 12; and the spring 13 tends to keepthe seat in said piston up againstsaid disk. gThef head 14 is screwed] into the casting'l and serves as a stop for the nut 15 screwed into ward travel of stem 10. The upward travel of stem 10 is regulated by nut 16 which enis pivotally attached by the pin 18 to the casing 1 and The valve disk 22 isadapted to close on the seat2 3.

Tl'llS device, when operative,-is attachedto the valve stem 10 which nutfilimitslthedownw has a lug 26 properly disposed thereon.-v

a closet bowl at C and a water supply at D and should have a-suitable bowl seat pivoted,

on the pin 18 adapted to engage the lug 26 of lever 17, thereby holding the stem 10 in its upper position when said-seat is resting explained as follows able bowl seat (which is notjs hown, and is the'subject matter for a subsequent patent)- .and hold-said seatin a position; inclined, The stem 10, in this" position, is held with its nut 15 restingpn' the head 14'by the spring 20 which is-com-l; pressed between the-head 14andthewasher The position shown; in,Fig. 1' taken as 21,5 and theispring 19 reacting? between washerr2l and the internal nut 81holdsthe barrel in its upper position, and, through stem 5, it holds the disk 22 against its seat 23 keeping the water passage-at D closed, 1 a When the automatic flushing de'vice,-:in lnitial p0sition,,has the required, pressure applied to the aforementioned bowl seat, as i by a person sittingthereon, to bring-said seat to its horizontal position, theflug 26 of I lever l 7 engaging said-bowl seat will lift the disk ;24, bymeanso f nut 16 and stem10, box 3, which is in turn tapped to .rece'ive'the fromitsf seat'in the-piston 9 as far-5aS :the

in the washer 11. When thesaid bowl seat rests on said'bowl the-stem 10 has reached,

its upper position, the-spring 13 will raise the piston ,9 until 'itsaseat rests against disk 24 as the guide25 ,=.di k Pl'lDg lB; P 1 125:

means of the entrapped oil to the disk 22 through the intermediary of the barrel 2, the

head 6 and the stem 5;'and this pressure forces disk 22down from its seat thereby opening the passage for water from the supply at D. This is the flushing position of the device.

lVhen the barrel 2 is pressed down as described to the flushing position the compressed spring 19 reacting between the washer 21 and the nut 8 lifts the said barrel gradually, and forces the oil through the bypass 27 in the disk 24, which brings the valve disk 22, through its intermediate connections, back up to its seat 23 thereby closing the water passage from the supply.

The amount of Water passed in one cycle from the supply to the bowl depends on how quickly the valve at D closes which in turn is dependent on two things; first, the size of the groove 27, which fixes how rapidly the oil may bypass from below piston 9 to above it; and, second, on how far the piston 9 is raised from its initial to its set position, which turn is readily regulated by adjust ing the nut 16.

A freer explanation of its operation, if

' allowable is that it is so constructed that it may have a bowl seat attached at (1 so that when the device is in a set position said seat rests on said bowl and when in its initial position said seat will be slightly raised. Now if the device is in its initial position and a person sits on said bowl seat it will.

raise the plunger '9 and compress springs 19 and 20 and allow the oil in barrel 2 to flow below said plunger; and, when such person rises the released spring 20 raises said seat and as aforedescr'ibed opens the valve at D allowing a quantity of water to pass when said valve is closed by the oil below piston 9 by-passing' and' allowing the spring 19 to gradually close said valve at D which brings the mechanism to its initial position. It is readily seen that if the nut 16 is screwed up, then the piston 9 will not be raised so high with a given movement of lever 17 and consequently since it doesnot raise as high there will not 'be so much'oil vgo below it, and when lever 17 released said oil is vmore quickly loy-passed, and therefore the valve at D is closed quicker, and

less water is passed; and, the converse is true when nut16 is screwed down, thus the amount of water passed at one flush may be conveniently regulated.

From Fig. 1 it is apparent that the valve at D may be any desired distance below the remainder of themechanism and said valve fittedwith a drain, if it is desired to make .the device frost proof; but this is the subject fora separate patent, it is desired only to show here that this mechanism lends itself to outdoor use in cold climates and to have its water valve below the frost line.

It is to be noted that all movements are oil cushioned and that the valve closure is gradual, and, therefore the device must of necessity be quiet. As the bottom of the barrel 2 is hermetically sealed to the head 6, no oil can leak out, and as the said barrel is filled with oil all parts are constantly lubricated and rendered nonscorrosive. The

neatness and compactness of the device is readily apparent, and it lends itself to use in crowded quarters, and especially to -ma rine use where the rolling of the boat causes the tanks of the conventional flushing mech anism. to slop over. This device is also suited to hotel and hospital use where quietness of operation is paramount.

The operating mechanism of this device is entirely separate-from the water supply it controls, and therefore is free from corrosion or clogging due to matter such supply water may contain.

This automatic flushing device is as near fool-proof as may be, by making it entirely automatic and allowing only one adjustment possible namely, the one controlling the amount of water passed at one flush.

The by-pass 27 being located .on the disk 2 1 has two valuable features; it is kept free by reseating with each operation of the device; and, it may be readily removed for inspection.

This invention lends itself to construction suitable for economical manufacture, as most of the machine work may be done in the turret lathe.

If it is desired to have the moving parts incased, this may be done by placing a stamped -U channel over casting 1 to cover barrel 2 and stem 5.

The operating mechanism may be removed from casting 1 by simply unscrewing nut 14 and stem 5, and the remaining parts as readily taken apart. Casting 1 may be detached by unscrewing suitable unions at C and D, thus accessibility is attained for the entire mechanism.

1 I claim: a

1. A valve controlling mechanism for flushing water closets comprising a body, a barrel adapted to contain a fluid axially guided by said body and rigidly fixed to a flush control valve stem, a single piston hav ing a check valve and by-pass fitted within said barrel and operably movable relative to said ba'rrel and body, a rod adjusting -nut and lever which may connect said p'istonto a bowl-seat, a spring adapted to react be- I tween said piston and said barrel and a spring adapted to react between said piston and said body.

2. In a valve controlling mechanism for flushing water closets, having a body, a barrel adapted to contain a fluid axially guided by said body and rigidly fixed to a flush control valve stem, a single piston having a check valve fitted within said barrel and operably movable relative to said barrel and body, a rod adjusting nut and lever connecting said piston to a bowl-seat, a spring adapted to react between said piston and said barrel, and a spring adapted to react between said piston and said body; a bypass in said piston obtained by slotting said check valves face or seat.

3. In a valve controlling mechanism for flushing water closets, having a body, a barrel adapted to contain a fluid axially guided by said body and rigidly fixed to a flush control valve stem, a single piston having a by-pass there-through fitted within said barrel and operably movable relative to said barrel and body, a rod adjusting nut and lever connecting said piston to a bowl-seat, a spring adapted to react between said piston and said barrel, and a spring adapted to react between said piston and said body; a check valve in said piston formed by an en larged portion of said rod seating in said piston and having a light spring react be tween an extended portion of said rod and said piston substantially as set forth.

4. In a valve controlling mechanism for flushing water closets, having a body, a barrel adaptedto contain a fluid axially guided by said body and rigidly fixed to a flush con trol valve stem, a single piston having a check valve and by-pass fitted there-through within said barrel and operably movable relative to said barrel and body, a rod ad- 7 Witnesses:

justing nut and lever connecting said piston to a bowl-seat, a spring adapted to react between said piston and said body; a sprmg' control valve stem, a single piston having a compressed between a member ofsaid barrel.

check valve and by-pass there-through fitted within said barrel and operably movable relative to said barrel and body, a rod adjusting nut and lever connecting said piston to a bowl-seat, and a spring adapted to react between said piston and said barrel; a spring compressed between a member of said body and said piston so that the 'force of said compression upon saidopiston, is in the direction of the opening of said flush control valve. 7

6. In a valve controlling mechanism for flushing water closets, having a body, a barrel adapted to contain a fluid axially guided by said body and rigidly fixed to a flush control valve stem, a piston rod adjusting nutand lever connected to a bowl-seat, a spring adapted to react between said piston and said barrel, and a spring adapted to react between'said piston and said body; a piston axiallyirguided on a portion of said piston rod and normally held against an en larged portion of said piston rod.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANCIS THORPE, JoHN W. WEHLBORG.

Copies 0! this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.? i l BENJAMIN PURNELLL 

